you for shepherding this subway. we needed champions like all of you and thank you for that. to the mta staff and the director and everyone doing the work, to the ta staff, to the mtc, thank you for all that you're doing. now i had in my talking points a reference that we know you need the central subway if you get on the 30 stockton and apparently everyone else had that in the talking points. through the denser parts of san francisco, as someone who doesn't have a car i have and millions of us have wasted countless hours trying to get through our downtown corridor but i want to take a moment to thank the most important folks who are not here with us and that is the people of san francisco. for years before i joined the board of supervisors i served on with many volunteers the community advisory group to the central

subway. with countless volunteers from the bay view, from visitation valley, from mission bay, south of market, union square, and of course thousands of residents and leaders from chinatown who went to countless public meetings provided tens of thousands of signatures, and stood for years to work extremely hard for world class transportation into the heart of our city, but we know we are building the central subway not just based on our history but for our future. by the year 2040 we will have 100,000 new households and 200,000 new workers and thousands of new daily car trips. we have to prepare for the future. let me close with a couple of quick thoughts. first i believe that our connecting community slogan it is real. we are the greatest city in the united states and we are an incredible city because our

communities come together for our subway and for our giants. second, we have to do more. we have to make sure that we're taking care of not just our daily needs on muni and not just our daily needs for the pedestrians, our sierkists, those in cars, those that walk, but we have to make sure we're investing in the long-term projects, and lafltly i just want to say one thing. we know over the history of time great cities don't regret building subways. they regret not building them. thank you. [applause] >> reverend norman fong has been praying for 20 years. he has been a great champion. he has to collect all of his efforts for so many years to make sure

our communities were served well. he's been an advocate and director of the chinese development center, a center invaluable to the growth of our community to plan affordable housing, transit, to open space, to the care for our seniors. the reverend fong we have been recognizing your voice for wells fargo on the radio and we want to give recognition to your voice again as a champion for the central subway. come on up reverend norman fong. [applause] >> yeah, that's true. i am going to keep this short, but i also need your involvement. i was asked to do a blessing but those that know me we need to bless each other and today i

just want you to say these four words. bless the central subway. say that. "bless the central subway". now, whenever i say this word "this is it" -- i am borrowing from michael jackson. then you did a blessing. okay. this has been the moment we all been waiting for. this is it. >> (inaudible). >> a community dream is being actualized. this is it. >> [inaudible] >> communities from the bay view to chinatown are being connected. this is it. >> central subway. >> affordable transportation is the life blood of all cities. right? this is it. >> central subway. >> from washington dc to san francisco we are here to accept

brait a federally supported and grass-roots driven transit project that represents access for all to jobs, health care, their families. this is it. >> central subway. >> okay. a little extra. in the national play offs of life itself like buster posy we just hit a grand slam. this is it. >> central subway. >> it's been a long and difficult road towards a new and more inclusive transit system for san francisco neighborhoods, but we shall overcome. am i right? this is it. >> central subway. >> bless the construction workers and those that

sacrifice so much -- you know who are you -- that san francisco can move towards a transit for the future and this is it and bless all of you on this wonderful day. thank you. [applause] >> before i invite the final speaker i just wanted to make sure i acknowledge senator mark leno for being here today. thank you very much. big champion for transportation in our state. steve mecher and thank you for being here. ongoing support. got the sf giants hat, yes. mike cureo and thanks for being here and the construction trades and we have been working with you to get the folks trained over the years. it's a wonderful time, and the chairman -- and the chairman of our san francisco metropolitan transportation agency who has been a long time champion of public transit, a regular muni

rider, someone who loves the city and has been at the forefront of not only a great transportation but has his head in our city and programs and wonderful services. please come on up. chairman tom nolan. [applause] >> leader pelosi asked me what is of going to say after reverend frong. i didn't have a chant rate for that. this is a great day for san francisco. this is a labor of love. we know the economic and transit values of this. as an agency we are committed and not only committed to bringing this fruition on time but under budget as well. is that good? and we will continue the vil against of all of our assets and focusing on the priority number one is safety. this day is possible because of so many

people that did so much work here. senator leno is here and the assessor. we have a wonderful working relationship with fta regional leaders and mtc and lazarus from the mtc board and the china chamber of commerce and the san francisco chamber of commerce and the market street association and the business improvement district and joe an hayes and mike from the building and trades construction council. anytime i get a chance to speak on the mta board i say i am so proud of what we do and we move 700,000 people in the city and it's a difficult task. we have a wonderful staff. we are privileged to have the talent of ed of course for his leadership and i couldn't tell you how proud i am to work with the

people on the board of directors and christine, the newest member. and the other members and malcolm couldn't be here today but we are proud to work together on behalf of the people of the city and we are happy to have john fung head this up and behalf of the board and all of us and thank you mr. secretary. mr. administrator. senator feinstein, leader pelosi, congress woman spear and mayor lee and thank you all for being here and now it's time to make it official. it's sign that document. okay. [applause] >> thank you tom. and as we're getting ready to sign this grand slam document let me make sure we give a great appreciation to our county transportation authority who has been administering the funds for

this great project and a great shout out to the union square improvement district. i know there are businesses big and small that will suffer a little bit from the construction but they're going to be patient. they know the result of this is a great future for our great city and thank you to all of the businesses and we will be communicating with them all the time with all of the agencies. decades now ladies and gentlemen city residents and our city will know the vision started 20 years ago to today we built a great transportation system we're going to be proud of and this is part of our success, the greatest city in the world, san francisco. [applause]

>> when there's good children's theater, it is good theater. if it is good theater, you would like it. even if it is for children that, is what i think. i know for the velveteen rabbit, i feel it is a

story for kids and much older people. it is about being a young child and loving a toy or friend and it is also about what it means to get old. in 1986 my son was 2. i decided i would like to adapt the velveteen rabbit. mind you, i had never read it as a child but heard it as a mother. my first time was a bedtime story recording. it was through that that i defined the theme and really determined how i was going to produce the story. is it true listening to it. when i made the dance i

watched my son, since i have been taking him to live performances since he was 6 years old. he loved it when he saw his peers or when someone was reading to him or he heard language. early when the bunny first comes out they go, ah, the rabbit. i think talking, flying, something they can relate to. and the adults love nana. nan na is the main adult figure in the show. the fairy is played by the same person. fair is very much like the love for your first child.

pure love. nature is a beautiful thing. all wild rabbits come from nature. i think nature is mysterious, beautiful, not something our kids get very much these days. there's fantastical spectacle because of computers and film. i think in live performance, in a way being paired down, you can be more successful and ask everybody to buy into the world you are in. if it is a simple world they will buy in, as long as the world is consistent that you have on stage. in some ways i also want that message for kids. it doesn't have to be spectacle but how you feel and having fun and taking things seriously, not about

being blown away. >> what is real? it is a thing that happens to you when a child loves you for a long, long time. >> i think it is a success. for the most part if you are three to seven, you sit in the seats and most of the time the kids are engaged. they laugh and ask questions. i think that is success. the fact we tour it and do it here, it is lasting. i really want to say the reason it is lasting is because of the story marjorie williams wrote is a gem of a story. if it was just an okay story, it wouldn't have lasted this long. i have had people say that

is the first show i ever saw, that is why i am a choreographer. i have had people that have come back when they are 20 and 23 years old. little kids and people in their 50s and 60s are telling me how much they love it. they come back more than once, they come back year after year.